


Chasing Dreams

by Imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Inception AU, M/M, Mostly Solangelo, but also haven't seen it in forever, i really like inception, i'd forgotten how much i like inception, probably include more of the others and other relationships if i continue this, so some details may not be entirely accurate to film canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 10:12:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15705150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch/pseuds/Imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch
Summary: Inception AuNico works a job with forger Will Solace, and crashes one of Will's dreams.





	Chasing Dreams

They were in Paris. Nico wasn't fond of Paris. The city of love mocked him: every street seemed to have a dark-haired, green eyed man with a blonde girlfriend hanging off his arm, staring at him with simpering, limpid eyes. That - that wasn't fair to Annabeth. She was smart, and fierce and the best damn architect in the business. It made sense they were working with her, just as it made sense that Percy had fallen for her. Making sense didn't make it hurt less.

He'd grown sick of the two of them working together so flawlessly, as well as Leo and Jason's arguments about various technical aspects of the plan. He’d gone out for fresh air, and possibly coffee since it had been another long night discussing boring, but crucial technical details. The others thought he was a black coffee, espresso person but he ordered what was essentially a version of a cappuccino. It was good, but didn't beat the coffees he'd had growing up in Italy. He drank slowly, watching the city pass, dragging out the time until he'd be compelled to return to the flat they'd set up base in.

It was crudely furnished with only the essentials, and too small to comfortably house the six of them. They were all old acquaintances, most people in the business were, but the six of them had never worked together as a team before and after a week there were still arguments as they found their feet. Jason and Percy clashed most frequently, both used to leading. The job had been Jason's idea, but Percy had come up with the more detailed plan which made things worse.

Nico, as the one who had to force their visions into reality, make them work in the real world and make sure everything was in the right place at the right time got conflicted requests he usually had to deny which wasn't making him any friends. It was giving him a headache and pushing him towards antisocialism rather than just plain and simple introversion.

The door to the flat was stiff and he had to give it a shove with his shoulder before the swollen wood gave and the door heaved open. Looking in at the living room at first he thought all the others were out, but then he saw Will lying back in an chair, the sun falling across his face and lighting up his hair a soft gold. His eyes were closed and at first Nico thought he was just asleep, but then he saw the PASIV, connected to his furthest arm, almost out of sight.

Nico wasn't sure how he felt about Will. He'd met the blonde a couple of times before, always as a friend of a friend, an acquaintance of an acquaintance. Will had served as an army nurse for a time before moving into the dreams business. His speciality, surprisingly, was forgery and he was good. His medical talents were also a bonus, both in dream and out of it, and he probably had the best knowledge of the PASIV of all of them, even Jason who spent far too long chasing dreams. Will was calm under pressure and though he had a sharp tongue and a wicked smirk, he was easy going and more stable than any of the others.

So Nico wasn't really sure why he didn't like him. Except, that wasn't exactly right because it wasn't even that he didn't like him. He also couldn't place what it _was_. Whenever there were together they seemed to bug each other. They bickered. It was mostly harmless. Sometimes Will would get the upper hand, sometimes Nico would. A victory never felt like much of a big deal, nor a defeat a particular loss, but they kept arguing anyway.

He walked towards the PASIV. He didn’t usually invade other people’s dreams, but something had him hooking himself up to the device.

The first thing Nico noticed about Will’s dream was that it was really warm, far warmer than Paris in January. A light breeze ruffled the fields of wheat. Under the shade of the porch Nico shrugged his jacket off. Will had his eyes closed in the dream as well as in reality but he noted Nico’s presence with a laidback self-mocking salute.

Will opened his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. He didn’t sound annoyed, just curious.

“Practice,” Nico said with a shrug. It was plausible enough. Jason had been insisting that they all need to get to know each other, to understand how the others work to ensure that the operation ran as smoothly as possible.

Will nodded, closing his eyes again.

“So, what have you figured out about me from my field of wheat?”

Nico wasn’t exactly the most sensitive individual on the planet admittedly, but he did know better than to ask Will where the dream was based on. He was beginning to regret crashing.

“That you like boring scenery?” Nico suggested.

He sat down on the deck, placing his hands down on the rough wood. He was impressed with Will’s detail for what was clearly just an escape from the confines of the flat, a chance to see the horizon instead of a slightly seedy Paris street in a slightly shabby area.

Will smiled at the sky.

“I like the space,” he said, with unexpected honesty.

Nico looked up at the sky.

“It’s not bad I suppose,” he said. A complete compliment didn’t completely sit right with him, but he did admire Will’s work. The sky was slightly darker than the pale Paris morning offering and was streaked with moody grey clouds. The sun outlined the wheat in gold. It wasn’t the busy suburban landscapes or overstuffed and crowded rooms Annabeth had been recreating faithfully, but it was deceptively detailed inside its simplicity.

Nico took a breath. The air smelt of peaches.

“It’s not is it?” Will answered, not rising to the bait. He seemed even more languid than usual, not interested in their usual barbed banter. It was a change of pace Nico hadn’t expected and it threw him.

“The others are a bit of a pain right?” Will commented, a slight gleam in his blue eyes. “It’s nice to escape every once in a while.”

Nico nodded. He got that. He _didn’t_ get this new side of Will.  He seemed calm but there was something underneath, something boiling in the distance like the storm clouds Nico could see on the distant horizon. He was distant, engaging in conversation but only really going through the motions. Nico almost missed the sharp bite of their arguments, when Will was familiar.

The wood under Nico’s fingertips had a slight warmth.

“I know this whole thing is a teamwork kind of gig,” Nico said. “But I keep thinking this will be the last one. I’m not really a team player.”

Will glanced at Nico, sharp surprise written in his face.

“You want out?” he asked. His calm had slipped for the first time.

Nico frowned, shrugged.

“These aren’t really my people.”

Will turned to the horizon where the storm was gathering.

“I thought you and Jackson –“

“Jackson and me what?” Nico snapped, before he could stop himself. He was an adult goddammit. He had an apartment, that admittedly he hardly ever visited because he was usually globetrotting on illegal covert missions, but it was his. He would do taxes if was a more honest person. And yet a mention of Percy and he was snapping back into a stupid, paranoid love-sick teenager.

“I thought you went way back. Were good friends.”

Oh. _That_ rumour. They did go way back, but friends was pushing it. There was time Nico might have filled the annoying kid brother role, way back when the both of them were starting out. But Percy didn’t especially want an annoying kid brother, and Nico had fallen way too quickly for that to be what he wanted Percy to see him as. A mission had gone wrong and Nico blamed Percy. It was easier than sticking around.

No. They weren’t good friends.

There was a rustle in the wheat.

“You’re going to get kicked out of here soon,” Will commented. He was sitting back again, one arm thrown over his face. For the first time Nico noticed a letter dangling from his other hand. He’d seen the outside of that letter briefly out in the real world, before Will had snatched it up and taken it out of sight.

The sky was getting darker.

“Want a wake up call?” Will asked.

Before Nico had a chance to answer, Will shoved him _hard_ and he was falling sideways off the deck which suddenly seemed not feet off the baked ground but miles.

He woke with a sharp jolt in a chair in the flat. He blinked, disorientated, turned to see Will still lying asleep in the chair. Barely a minute had passed.

He sat up slowly, watching as Will began to wake. He focused on removing the PASIV’s needle from his arm, deliberately not looking at Will: he’d been so different in the dream, Nico felt like the world had been swept out from under his feet.

“Did you mean what you said?” Will asked as he fiddled about with the PASIV.

“Which part?” Nico asked.

“The part about leaving,” Will said sharply.

Nico shrugged.

“Don’t pretend you’d miss me,” Nico answered. He still couldn’t quite face Will so he didn’t see his expression, couldn’t gage his response.

“Oh I wouldn’t,” Will said, breezy and carefree all of a sudden: almost too breezy, too carefree. “It was nice having someone to argue with a guess, but you’re nothing special. There are plenty of point men out there. In fact, we might as well replace you now.”

Nico flipped him off in response, but was saved answering by Jason’s return.

“I’ve had a thought,” Jason announced.

“And I can’t wait to hear it,” Will said. Nico heard the trace of irony in Will’s voice. He didn’t know if Jason did.

The two of them walked over to the dining table and spread out one of the blueprints. Jason spoke, Will responded monosyllabically at first but then with more interest. Nico stayed in the armchair, staring out at the city of love. He’d been so convinced it was the right thing to do to leave the business, to leave all the bad memories behind. Listening to Jason and Will his conviction waver.

One more mission. One more mission, then he’d see.

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to decide whether or not to continue on this on to the actual job. Let me know if you guys have a preference! x


End file.
